In an announcement by Dudley Hogarth , the publisher for the Australian fortnightly Phantom comic, the yearly Frew annual for 2026 has been delayed. It was originally intended to be out in shops on the 22nd of January 2026. The latest proposed on-sale date for the annual is the 2nd of February 2026, with issue 2015 on sale on the 9th of February 2026. It is worth noting that subscribers will get issue 2015 before issue 2014 (the annual), seeing that it has already arrived in stock at Frew headquarters after being printed. Some may be asking why Frew issue 2015 has already been printed. That is because the annual is over 220 pages; it requires binding so the comic holds together. This is the process that has been delayed. As first announced on our website ( read the report here ), the Frew 2026 annual will be 220+ pages in full colour featuring team-up stories of Lee Falk 's world-famous characters: Mandrake the Magician and, of course, our Phantom! The cover is designed by Australian cover artist Jason Paulos . The stories included are: “ Mandrake’s Bon Voyage ” is the 178th Phantom Sunday story. The story was written by Tony DePaul and drawn by Terry Beatty . “ The Missing Aviatrix ” is a Mandrake the Magician daily story, featuring a guest appearance by The 21st Phantom, Guran, Old Man Mozz, and Devil. The story was written and drawn by Fred Fredericks . “ Lights! Camera! Danger! ” is a Mandrake the Magician daily story, featuring a guest appearance by the 21st Phantom, Guran, and Hero. The story was written and drawn by Fred Fredericks . “ Trouble in the Twelve Nations ” is the 183rd Phantom Sunday story. The story was written by Tony DePaul and drawn by Terry Beatty . “ Shadows on Devil Road ” is a Mandrake the Magician Sunday story, featuring a guest appearance by The Phantom. The story was written and drawn by Fred Fredericks . “ Still Lovely, Still Deadly ” is a Mandrake the Magician daily story, featuring a guest appearance by The 21st Phantom, Guran, and Old Man Mozz. The story was written and drawn by Fred Fredericks . " The Magician’s Curse Part 1-3 ." Written By: Andrew Constant and Jeff Dyer . Art by: Kay . Colored by Ivan Pedersen , edited by Glenn Ford , and lettered by Alan Ho . Brand new story. In February 2026, we will be dedicating a full X-Band: The Phantom Podcast episode to reviewing the annual in detail. You can either subscribe to our podcasts on YouTube, your favourite podcast player, and/or on our website. Are you looking forward to getting ahold of your copy?

Ulf Granberg was a giant in the Phantom community as both a writer and editor but perhaps even more as a historian and Phantom-lore builder who added structure to the loose lore established by Lee Falk. Sadly, he recently passed, and Dan Fraser and Jermayn Parker (with a special guest) talked about his legacy and reminisced about our chat with him almost a decade ago. At the end of us talking and remembering a legend, we include some snippets from our 3-hour chat with him in X-Band: The Phantom Podcast Episodes 97A and 97B. Ulf Granberg (born 1945) was the editor responsible for the Swedish Phantom comic book, Fantomen, from 1972 to 2012, a duty that also included heading the Team Fantomen production of Phantom stories. He had also written almost 40 Phantom stories. Granberg became the 12th editor of Fantomen in 1973, succeeding Per-Anders Jonsson, and continued until 1987, being succeeded by Mats Jönsson. In 2003 he returned as editor, succeeding Petter Sjölund. He did, however, remain in charge of the production between his two periods as an editor, serving as editor-in-chief. In addition, Granberg was the editor for the first 16 issues of Fantomen Krönika and for issue 58. He retired from his Phantom duties with Fantomen 9/2012, after a total of 1001 issues. He was succeeded by Mikael Sol as editor for Fantomen and by Claes Reimerthi and Hans Lindahl as editors for the Team Fantomen production of stories. What this bio doesn’t include is the behind-the-scenes stuff that many of us take for granted. He was important in the hiring of several key creators from around the world in: Cesar Spadari, Norman Worker, Jamie Vallve, Carlos Crus, Hans Lindahl, Claes Reimerthi, Dai Darell, Donne Avvenell, Felmang, Ferri, Joan Boix, Tony DePaul, Paul Ryan, Graham Nolan, David Bishop, Georges Bess, Kari Leppanen, Lennart Moberg, Sal Velluto, Bob McLeod, and Dick Giorando and we are sure we are missing many. He was important in adding to the lore of the Phantom and filling in the gaps. He created the first timeline of all 21 Phantoms. Even giving Lee Falk the list (which he ignored) He created the first Phantom map of Bangalla and the countries around Bangalla. The Bangalla map was very much liked by Lee Falk who asked for a copy He added to the first Phantom adventures on how he got the skull ring and how he became known as the man who cannot die. He oversaw the origin of Devil. He oversaw the creation of Dogai Singh, perhaps the most dreaded Singh pirate, and of course Sandal Singh, who is the bane of some members of this podcast. He created the ‘Brain Trust’ or Team Fantomen which was a group of creators who would meet once a year and map out the theme of stories for the next year or period of time. He oversaw the Lubanga storyline, which was controversial but also impactful, which saw Luaga lose the presidency of Bangalla. In 1999 after Lee Falk's death, the newspaper strip almost was cancelled. He pushed the continuous nature of it and suggested Paul Ryan and Tony DePaul/Claes Reimerthi to take over. Saw the created stories spread to Australia, Brazil, Turkey, Russia, Germany, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, UK and again we have likely missed a few. If you would like to listen to the full 3-hour chat with Ulf Granberg you can via the below attached audio players. You can email us at chroniclechamber@gmail.com or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel.

We're two issues deep (or seemingly halfway through) the Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny miniseries that continues on story threads for the 8-part Defenders of the Earth series from last year. In this follow-up, our heroes (Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, Lothar, and The Phantom) are on Mongo, where Flash finds himself sentenced to... trial by combat... for a second time. Credits for the issue are: Title: " Weather All Storms" Writer: Dan DiDio    Artist: Alex Sanchez Colorist: Juancho! Velez    Letterer: Carlos M Mangual    Editor: Chas Pangburn & Sarah Brunstad   Main Cover: Marco Santucci Synopsis:   TRIAL BY FLASH! In the wake of Ming’s defeat, the factions of Mongo are divided. But they can all agree on one thing: It’s the Defenders’ fault! Especially that Flash Gordon! To stave off outright murder, Flash agrees to be tried. And it’s a good thing he speaks best with his fists, because it’s a trial by combat! Meanwhile, Rick Gordon and his friends’s search for Dale Arden comes to an abrupt halt when the Weather Demon attacks! Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #2  cover by Marco Santucci Question for the Phans: Do you think Ming the Merciless will be back this series? Let us know by commenting below this article, on our YouTube, or by dropping us a line . We'd love to hear your thoughts!

In this podcast we wrapped up everything that happened in the world of the Phantom for 2025, and we did it in under two hours. We will go over the tale of the tape, highlighting every comic and merchandise released around the world (that we know of), and then we and our regular contributors will go over our favorites. If you disagree with us, please let us know. We welcome the input! If you're one of the phans who can only listen to some parts of the podcast, below is a timeline of what we discussed. KFS/Comics Kingdom comics: 3 Minutes Frew: 4 Minutes Fantomen: 25 Minutes & 30 Seconds USA comics: 37 Minutes Indian comics: 46 Minutes & 30 Seconds German comics: 51 Minutes Other countries' comics: 1 Hour Our other phavourites Best writer: 1 Hour & 9 Minutes Best story artist: 1 Hour & 14 Minutes Best merchandise released in 2025:  1 Hour & 17 Minutes Best Chronicle Chamber moment:  1 Hour & 23 Minutes Overall reflection on 2025:  1 Hour & 28 Minutes What will be the big news of 2026 as we enter the 90th birthday: 1 Hour & 35 Minutes You can email us at chroniclechamber@gmail.com  or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook , Twitter , and/or Instagram . We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel .

Christian Moller  reviews Zauberstern Phantom Spezial #7 , which was out in late January 2026. The issue features three modern-day daily newspaper stories. " Plutonium-Piraten " (" Plutonium Pirates ") part 2 by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan " Das verfluchte Land " (" The Accursed Land ") by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan " Die Dschungellektion " (" The Jungle Lesson ") by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan You can purchase this comic and other back issues of Zauberstern  Phantom comics from their website . They also sell their comics from shops throughout Germany. This issue only costs 7.99 euro, is full colour and is 62 pages. Issue #8 comes out in March 2026. This cover is by phan favourite George Wilson  and was repurposed, with the original appearing on the USA Gold Key # 6  comic published by Gold Key Comics . In this comic, the first story, " Plutonium-Piraten, Teil 2 " (" Plutonium Pirates ") by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan  features the second half of the story, and the first part was published in Zauberstern Phantom Spezial # 6 . The print quality is great with thick glossy paper, and the colours are very bright as per normal. This magazine does these stories justice. This is the first time that these stories have been published in Germany - for many readers it will be the first time they have read these stories. Are you enjoying these modern stories? Ensure you read our interview with the publishers and editors behind Zauberstern  here - Interview with Simeon Hrissomallis  and Charles Bone . We also review Zauberstern special magazines on our platforms. All Zauberstern and other German comic reviews will be included in our monthly X-Band: The Phantom Podcasts. You can find out more at our website and or subscribe to our YouTube channel  for more videos. If you would like to join the team and review new comics being released around the world, please contact us.

In The Phantom #5 from Mad Cave Studios , we reach the conclusion of the Singh Brotherhood arc. For those who came in late, Asif Singh and his henchmen have taken over the Bandar Village. If The Phantom doesn't show his face and give up his cat-and-mouse game with the Singh Brotherhood, Asif swears to execute every last Bandar child. It's a race against time as Phantom and Guran team up to take down Asif once and for all. After this issue, we seemingly won't have a new issue of The Phantom from Mad Cave Studios until April 2026, when the publisher is planning to release an oversized one-shot The Phantom vs. The Sky-Band #1 . Hopefully more issues get announced soon, as the creative team have steadily been introducing more and more of The Phantom's lore throughout this 5-issue series. Writer: Ray Fawkes Artist: Russell Olson Letterer: Taylor Esposito Editor: Sarah Brunstadt Cover A: Freddie Williams II Cover B: Caanan White  & Juancho! Cover C: Natacha Bustos Synopsis: HE WHO DEFIES THE PHANTOM DEFIES JUSTICE ITSELF! The Phantom is injured and finally lies within Arif Singh's gun sights. But most of Singh's men have already fallen to the Phantom's mark -- and the leader of the Singh Brotherhood has dangerously underestimated a legend. Justice stalks the jungle as the first arc of Ray Fawkes and Russell Olson's ongoing epic comes to an explosive close! The Phantom #5 Cover A by Freddie Williams II Questions for the Phans: Do you think we'll see Asif Singh return? Does this sound like we'll see another follow-up miniseries? Let us know by commenting below this article, on our YouTube, or by dropping us a line . We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Mandrake the Magician was Lee Falk 's first created hero and, to many, was their gateway into the Phantom, with some countries having a deeper relationship with the hypnotic magician than the purple-wearing jungle hero. Surprisingly, there have not been many comics or stories where the two heroes share equal billing. Frew in 2026 have tried to do this with their 2026 yearly annual. 228 pages in full colour featuring stories from both universes and a new story created for this annual. Join us for 80 minutes as we review each Phantom & Mandrake crossover story in finer detail, the annual as a whole, and much more. The following stories are reviewed and are time-stamped if you cannot listen to the whole podcast and want to listen to specific stories. " Mandrake's Bon Voyage " by Tony DePaul and Terry Beatty : 15 Minutes " The Missing Aviatrix " by Fred Fredericks :  22 Minutes " Lights! Camera! Danger! " by Fred Fredericks :  29 Minutes & 30 Seconds " Trouble in the Twelve Nations " by Tony DePaul and Terry Beatty : 33 Minutes " Shadows on Devil Road " by Fred Fredericks :  39 Minutes " Still Lovely, Still Deadly " by Fred Fredericks :  46 Minutes " The Magician's Curse " by Jeff Dyer , Andrew Constant and Boris Kay : 54 Minutes If you are wanting to read the final week of " Still Lovely, Still Deadly " by Fred Fredericks that was edited out, you can read that here . If you are wanting to read behind the scenes with " The Magician's Curse " story by Jeff Dyer , Andrew Constant and Boris Kay and find out about who Dryake is and how he is related to Mandrake, you can read that here . Finally, a heads up: we are aware we have not done a monthly wrap-up podcast of January or February yet; that’ll be next. You can email us at chroniclechamber@gmail.com  or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook , Twitter , and/or Instagram . We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel .

We're at the penultimate issue for the Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny miniseries from Mad Cave Studios , and all the characters and plot points are lining up for one epic, final brawl on Mongo. In this follow-up from last year's Defenders of the Earth series, The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, Lothar, and Flash Gordon are battling it out on Mongo while their children, Kshin, LJ, Rick Gordon, and Jedda Walker, uncover a secret sea base on Earth. Credits for the issue are: Title: " Unhappy Returns" Writer: Dan DiDio    Artist: Alex Sanchez Colorist: Juancho! Velez    Letterer: Carlos M Mangual    Editor: Chas Pangburn & Sarah Brunstad   Main Cover: Marco Santucci Synopsis:   THE LAST WAR OF MONGO?! Flash Gordon’s trial ended in chaos! The citizens of Mongo want someone held responsible for the devastation of their planet — but the Defenders won’t let their friend take the fall. Will they risk a war of the worlds to save him? And what of Dale Arden, the woman they came to Mongo to find? Plus, the young gen unmasks the Weather Demon—only to find themselves tested anew! Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #3 main cover by Marco Santucci Question for the Phans: Did the villain reveal surprise you? Let us know by commenting below this article, on our YouTube, or by dropping us a line . We'd love to hear your thoughts!

In this episode, Jermayn Parker  is joined by co-host Stephen East as they review the Australian comics and include a few rants about Frew missing the mark and other things that are bothering them. Scott Waldyn and Christian Moller also join in with their reviews of comics released in the USA, Germany, and Austria. Normally, these podcasts are our attempt to wrap up everything from comic reviews to catching up on the latest Newspaper Comics Kingdom stories and related news from around the world. As it has been two months since we last reviewed everything that has happened in the Phantom's world, we have split the wrap-up podcast into two. In the last podcast we discussed all the related Phantom news and reviewed the Newspaper daily and Sunday stories . We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. If you agree and/or disagree with us, you can either email us; leave your comments at our YouTube channel, and/or leave them at our social media platforms on Facebook , Twitter , and/or Instagram . If you're one of the phans who can only listen to some parts of the podcast, below is a timeline of what we discussed. Frew (Australia) Frew #2013: 2 Minutes " The Goggle-Eye Pirates " by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy " The Return " by Paul Mason and Giancarlo Caracuzzo Frew #2015: 12 Minutes " The Gray Gang " part 1 by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy " The Jungle Patrol " by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy " The Governor's Family " by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy " The Flirtatious Princess " part 2 by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy Frew #2016: 17 Minutes " Dark Smoke over Bangalla " by Bernd Frenz and Heiner Bade “ Hunters’ Prey ” part 3 by Shane Foley Giant Size #36: 31 Minutes " The Madness of Van Krieg " by Lamberto Lombardi " The Blackmailers of Paris " by Peter Mennigen and José María Ortiz Tafalla The USA Mad Cave Studios Phantom #4: 46 Minutes " The Tempest, Part 4 " by Ray Fawkes and Russell Olson Mad Cave Studios Phantom #5: 59 Minutes " The Tempest, Part 5 " by Ray Fawkes and Russell Olson Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #2: 1 Hour & 15 Minutes " Weather All Storms " by Dan DiDio and Alex Sanchez Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #3:  1 Hour & 26 Minutes " Unhappy Returns " by Dan DiDio and Alex Sanchez Germany & Austria Wick #9 & #10:  1 Hour & 41 Minutes " Die Bergkrieger " (" The Mountain Warriors ") by Peter Mennigen and José María Ortiz Tafalla " Die Schatzkammer des wandelnden Geistes " (" The Treasure of the Ghost Who Walks ") by Peter Mennigen and José María Ortiz Tafalla " Die Hexenjagd " (" The Witch Hunt ") by Peter Mennigen and José María Ortiz Tafalla "Der Zwillingsbruder" (" The Twin Brother ") by Peter Mennigen and José María Ortiz Tafalla ECR #98, #99 & #100: 1 Hour & 46 Minutes " Totemannspunkt " (" Deadman's Point ") by Lee Falk  and Sy Barry " Der rasende Elefant " (" The Rogue Elephant ") by Lee Falk  and Sy Barry " Dschungelolympiade " (" Jungle Olympics ") by Lee Falk  and Sy Barry Zauberstern Spezial 7:  1 Hour & 51 Minutes " Plutonium-Piraten " (" Plutonium Pirates ") part 2 by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan " Das verfluchte Land " (" The Accursed Land ") by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan " Die Dschungellektion " (" The Jungle Lesson ") by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan (Austrian) Die Klassiker #4:  1 Hour & 54 Minutes " Shark's Nest " (" The Shark's Nest ") by Lee Falk and Ray Moore " Perlenfischer " (" Fishers of Pearls ") by Lee Falk and Ray Moore " Die Sklavenhändler " (" The Slave Traders ") by Lee Falk and Ray Moore We can only report and discuss what we have seen or been told by the phans. We may miss something, especially conventions in your corner of the world with Phantom-related guests, so p lease let us know of them so we can promote them on our website, socials, and podcasts. We are also looking for reviewers who can review comics from India, Sweden, Finland, France, Italy, and some other locations that publish the Phantom. If you would like to join the team with regular reviews, please contact us. You can email us at chroniclechamber@gmail.com  or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook , Twitter , and/or Instagram . We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel .

Are you a Phantom phan who collects original art from comics published around the world? If so, news that USA artist Jim Calafiore who was the main artist for the Defenders of the Earth comic book series published by Mad Cave Studios in 2024 and 2025 is selling his original art, will definitely interest you. You can learn more about the Mad Cave Studios Defenders of the Earth  comic book series including the teams thoughts in our wrap-up podcast here . If you want to  learn more about Jim Calafiore , you can read an earlier interview with him on our website . What may interest phans is that many pages feature not only the Phantom but also other characters like Flash Gordon and Mandrake the Magician , Lee Falk 's other superhero he created 90+ years ago. Below is a small sample of the artwork that was still available to be purchased at the time of this article being published. If you are interested in purchasing any of the pages, we would suggest contacting Jim Calafiore at either of his social media pages. Jim Calafiore Facebook Jim Calafiore  Instagram

Leading American-based auction house Heritage currently has an original cover painting by phan favourite César Spadari up for auction. Bidding starts at $1 US and ends Sunday 19th April 2026, local USA time. You can bid on it here on Heritage From what we have been told, this is a larger piece than the one previously sold and features the popular Kate Sommerset character. The cover was used for Fantomen 24/2011 and Fantomet 23/2011 .

Read Bengali Books , a Kolkata , India-based company, has released a licensed Phantom coffee mug in partnership with Indian Phantom publisher Shakti Comics . The cost is 399 INR ($6AUD, $4USD) but from what we understand, this mug can only be purchased from inside India. You can go to their website here You can go to their Facebook page here At the time of the article being written, it looks like their website is down, so we would suggest contacting them to buy your coffee mug via contact. Their details are: Phone: +91 81009 05566 Email : cs@readbengalibooks.com +WhatsApp: 91 81009 05566

Are you an original Phantom art collector? eBay seller Tropic Comics and Collectibles Inc has listed 40+ original pages of artwork by Mad Cave Studios ' Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny ' artist Alex Sanchez . The art listed is from issue 3 and issue 4. Click to view the art pieces available for sale The pages are selling them from $99US and several of the pages feature the Phantom as well as the other Defenders of the Earth heroes in Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, Lothar and their children. Below is a sample of a few of the pages that were available at the time of the article being written. If you would like to follow him on Instagram, you can find his social page here .

The chain of patience first appeared in the 1953 Sunday Story " The Chain " created by Lee Falk & Wilson McCoy . The adventure features a story of the 21st Phantom's mother and father were a Misty Mountain prince named Prince Hakon kidnapped the 21st Phantom's mother, and she was taken to his highland palace. She refused to marry him, so he kept her locked in a cell until she changed her mind. Upon hearing of the kidnapping, the Phantom rides to the highland kingdom and attempts a rescue; however, due to his rage, he rushes things and is captured by the palace guards. Instead of imprisoning or executing the Phantom, the Prince puts him to work pushing a mill in plain view of his fiance's cell. With each turn of the mill, the Phantom notices that the chain catches a little, scraping against stone, weakening the links. Month after month the Phantom labors, knowing that with each turn, he comes closer to freedom. For Those Who Have Come in Late.... The 1953 story "The Chain" video catch up This story has been published in 16 countries in comics and newspapers, including Australia, Ireland, Brazil, France, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Italy, and many others. Majority of phans love this story; however, what is surprising to many is that the chain on the throne has only been seen once in a newspaper adventure. Since this adventure was in the newspapers, it was seen once on a cover, once in the Avon novel, and once in a comic and then never seen again in any form of medium until 1996. What follows is an investigation into this popular Phantom element that has largely been forgotten about. First of all, let us focus on the cover and comic it has appeared in after the newspaper story. In 1964, Fratelli Spada published comics throughout Italy and France. In L'Uomo Mascherato #73 , " The Chain " story was published, and the front cover by Mario Caria depicts the throne with the chain on it. In the 1960s, the USA publisher Gold Key published several of Lee Falk stories with new artwork by Bill Lignante . In 1966 this story was republished in issue 16. Interestingly, even Bill Lignante did not show the chain in any of his other stories that were published by Gold Key & Charlton . What I find interesting is that even with 40+ known comics featuring these two variations of the same story, only the Fratelli Spada L'Uomo Mascherato #73 cover depicts the chain on the throne. No other comics with the chain story inside featured the chain on the cover. The first time the chain on the throne was seen again was in The Phantom movie in 1996. The first time it was seen again on a comic was Fantomen 10-11/2007 , Fantomet 9-10/2007 & Mustanaamio 10-11/2007, and it was drawn by Sal Velluto . From an Australian point of view, Frew #1526 (2008) was the first time the chain was shown on a cover. Apart from the times the original " The Chain " story was published in a dozen-plus countries the first time, another story featured the chain on the throne: " Blood Diamonds," drawn again by Sal Velluto and written by David Bishop . It was published in Mustanaamio 24/2008 , Fantomet 23/2008 , Fantomen 24/2008 & Frew #1526 (2008). One other story the chain has been featured in is " Kid Phantom #1" with it appearing in issue one and also on the cover of issue 2 drawn by Paul Mason . Gallery of the past examples of the chain being used Naturally we asked Sal Velluto why he included the chain on the throne on his Egmont / Team Fantomen work and he has this to say: That covers, as you remember, were my try-outs for Egmont [ Editors note: discussed in X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #125 ]. As such, I tried to include as much iconography from the world of The Phantom as I could to show that I was familiar with its history. So I used references from the movie. An interesting note is that Lee Falk mentioned the chain story in the 1990 Sunday Story " Captain Amazon: Pirate Queen " by Lee Falk & Sy Barry . The story of the 20th Phantom being captive was retold, but the chain on the throne after the capture was not. Surprisingly, the chain has never been seen again in any newspaper stories until 2024. Tony DePaul in the 265th Phantom daily story " The Chain ", revisited the chain storyline. However, instead of loving the story that many phans loved, he wanted to revisit it so he could dismantle the 1953 story and do a demolition job on both its underlying premise and its treatment of race. It caused some angst among some phans, but what is missed by many phans is that the chain was largely neglected by other creators, publishers, cover artists, and writers (including Lee Falk) for 70+ years until Tony DePaul did his part to try and write it out of established Phantom lore. At the end of the day, the chain will only be removed if the phans want it to be.

Tony DePaul and Mike Manley have done what many consider the ultimate sin of showing the Phantom's eyes and face in the 261st Daily Phantom story " Phantom’s End ". It is such a sin for many phans, that one rumour was invented that Bill Lignante was sacked by Lee Falk for drawing the eyes in a story. In our Phantom Bible that we created, we have noted that creators should NOT show the Phantom unmasked or show his eyes . Even though Tony DePaul and Mike Bullock have done it here, we would recommend that all creators who may be reading this article, do not follow this. We would recommend you going through the Phantom Bible for more important lore and elements to follow. The panels in question with the " Phantom’s End " story are from Monday 15th, Tuesday 16th, Wednesday 17th, Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd August 2022. We have included them below so you can catch up what is happening. This is not the first time the eyes have been shown with many other great names in Ray Moore , Bill Lignante and Graham Nolan have also done the same. However, this is the first time the whole face has been shown while the Phantom has been the Phantom. Here are the examples of them showing the eyes in the past. Click the arrows to view the examples. The only times we have previously seen the Phantom's face and eyes showing were in the two childhood stories in 1944 and 1959. It is worth noting that as soon as his father, the 20th Phantom, was dying, his face and eyes started becoming shaded and hidden in both versions of the story. This tradition and lore are also followed in Team Fantomen stories with other past previous Phantoms taking over the role from their fathers and their faces shown during the process. Attached are two examples from newspaper and Team Fantomen stories. If you have heard or read any of Tony DePaul 's comments and interviews on our platforms, you would know he carefully and meticulously plans what is happening and puts in the time required to avoid careless mistakes. Showing the Phantom's face unmasked was not a mistake by Tony or artist Mike Manley . A great example of DePaul's meticulous planning is Jampa's comments of wanting to retire to somewhere with warm beaches, which was first mentioned back in 2016 in a Daily story, and now we know how critical it was with that phrase being key to Savarna killing him, which is the catalyst of this very storyline. I saw all that because, as we can see, Tony is playing the long game and carefully plots the stories. Chronicle Chamber is lucky enough to have a relationship with Tony DePaul , so naturally we reached out to him, who was kind enough to sneak behind the mask of why he decided to show the Phantom's face unmasked. What is happening on the 15th August 2022 Tony DePaul: The script asked Mike Manley for a close, full-on look at the Phantom’s unmasked face on 8/15 and again on 8/23. In all other cases, whether the eyes are open or closed is incidental to what’s going on in the panel. Or that’s how I saw it as a reader. What is happening on the 17th August 2022 Tony DePaul: On 8/17, I presume Mike Manley closed his eyes to communicate the intensity of the effort, the will, and the pain tolerance required for the Phantom to get to his feet with a broken femur and a fatal bullet wound to the chest. Once we’ve seen the unmasked face, there’s no narrative reason to see it in every panel. Hitting the reader over the head with it would devalue the effect I wanted to go for in the 8/15 and 8/23 strips. The reader has known for over a year now that the Phantom dies in this Old Man Mozz' prophecy. That’s been a given from the day Mozz stopped the Phantom on the trail to Gravelines Prison and begged him to turn around and let Savarna die. Now that we’ve arrived at the destination Mozz foretold, I’ve been trying to confirm for the reader that this is it. When the glasses came off on 8/8, some readers got it immediately: the Phantom’s going to die. Then comes the unmasked face on 8/15, something never before seen in the 86-year history of the strip. A reader who’s paying attention has to get what that means. Then on 8/17, the past tense. You were the 21st Phantom . Another signal in a series of signals on the certainty of death. It's not that he stopped being the Phantom when Manju shot him or stopped being the Phantom when we saw his unmasked face. He won’t stop being the Phantom until he’s dead. But he’s as good as dead, and he knows it. That’s the reason for the past tense. Readers with a metaphysical outlook may see the ancestors as real, the voices as real. Others may take blood loss into account and regard it as a dying man seeing what he would like to see, hearing what he would like to hear. But the important thing about the sequence is that the Phantom knows his final moments have arrived. What he means to do next, by climbing up out of the rocks and facing his distant, unseen killer, is predicated on him knowing he’s been fatally wounded. In our Phantom Bible  that we created, we have noted that creators should NOT show the Phantom unmasked or show his eyes . Even though Tony DePaul  and Mike Bullock  have done it here, we would recommend that all creators who may be reading this article, do not follow this. We would recommend you going through the Phantom Bible  for more important lore and elements to follow. What are your thoughts on this storyline? Are you happy with Tony DePaul and Mike Manley showing the Phantom's eyes? Did you get all the visual clues?